
A remarkable video from VPRO Metropolis shows what happens when a reporter brings a chocolate bar to cocoa bean farmers from the Ivory Coast—it is the first time the farmers learn what their produce is used to make (hat tip to Twisted Sifter). Some of the men thought the beans were used to make wine. One of the farmers says of chocolate bars (apparently in perfect seriousness), “This is why white people are so healthy.” One thing the video demonstrates is how people, interacting through global markets, can cooperate to mutual benefit without even knowing how they’re benefitting their trading partners. Of course, it also shows how communication technologies can help people, including chocolate lovers, become more educated about the world around them.